Greenhouse Kisses
by alifletcher2012
Summary: Rose and Scorpius have a penchant for kissing in greenhouses. *Updated with a Scorpius chapter and some minor edits*
1. Chapter 1

Sighing as she fought her way on to the tube, Rose Weasley searched in vain for a seat. She normally enjoyed doing things the muggle way, but it was a Friday night and the train was filled to capacity. She gripped a pole and resigned her self to standing for her trip. The number of people was oppressive and the smell of her neighboring passengers was less than pleasant. Rose was seriously regretting her decision not to apparate.

Maybe it was the train or maybe it was her destination, but Rose was in a poor mood. She tightened her coat around her cocktail dress feeling out of place and out of sorts. 'With this train, it'll be a miracle if I arrive in one piece,' she thought darkly, once again cursing her decision to take the tube.

"Hot date?" a middle-aged woman next to her asked. "I hope the bloke is worth it! That's a nice dress."

Rose cuckled darkly "No, unfortunately. It's for a class reunion of sorts"

"Ohhh, yes. I've had a few of those myself. Everyone tried their hardest to one up each other. It's so tiresome, I've stopped going. Well, whoever it is you're trying to impress, you're sure to in that dress."

Rose laughed again, her mood a little lighter, "Thank you, but I'm not actually trying to impress anyone."

"Oh I'm sure," said the woman said winking. "Best of luck," the woman wished her as she got off at her stop, leaving Rose alone with her thoughts.

Rose sighed again. She hadn't wanted to admit it out loud or even to herself really, but the dress was meant for someone, in a way. Acknowledging it even to herself made her cheeks flush. The fact that she had dressed up for him was embarrassing.

Him.

Scorpius Malfoy.

* * *

Eleven year old Rose was infatuated with him before she even boarded the train. Even as her father whispered in her ear to beat Scorpius in every test, she found herself admiring his bright, proud features. She resolved to make him her friend before the end of the day. She forwent sitting by her cousins sought him out on the train, determined to make him like her. And for a grand total of about ten minutes her plan had worked.

Rose found him sitting alone in a compartment on the train. She let her self in and sat across from. He looked sad and vulnerable to her.

"Hi! I'm Rose Weasley," she said brightly. "We should be friends. You look like you need a friend!"

He just looked at her blankly, which she stupidly took as a sign of encouragement.

"I know how you are of course, you're Scorpius Malfoy. You're much cuter in person," she giggled. "I think you and I being friends would be so good, you know breaking down barriers and whatnot..."

Her rambling was mercifully interrupted then, before she could dig herself into a deeper hole, by the compartment door opening and Beau Zabini entering.

"Scorp, my man, we've been looking for you. What are you doing here with the spawn of Weasels?"

Rose turned horrified to look at Scorpius as a smirk crossed his face. She felt her face flushing and was petrified to know what Scorpius was about to say.

"Well, I thought we were meeting up here on the south end of the train, and found us a compartment. Which was fortuitous, because Weasley here found me and declared her undying love for me. Class hasn't even started and I'm already breaking hearts," he laughed cruelly and stood up to leave with Beau.

He turned back to look at the now red faced Rose and said, his voice full of vitriol, "As if I would even be friends with a stuck up frizzy haired, buck toothed, halfblood mongrel like you, Weasel face." And he turned and left the compartment.

It had taken all of Rose's courage not to fall apart and start blubbering. But she forced her tears back and went and found Albus, hoping that encounter was her last. She had not such luck. By the time the arrived at the school, everyone had heard and rumors were flying. Rose kept her head high throughout the sorting and opening feast, but once her roommates fell asleep she bawled her eyes out.

Even since that day Malfoy had been somewhat of a terror at Hogwarts. He was copy of his father in nearly every way. He was a true Slytherin, haughty and cruel and yet seemed to always a gaggle of girls following him around. Malfoy tormented those he thought less of himself, but especially Rose. He tried to make her life a living hell at Hogwarts.

Rose, for her part, tried not to let Malfoy get to her. In spite of his abuse, she was well liked and moderately popular. She was the top of her class and athletic when we wanted to be. And as the years at school passed, her once dorky features became rather pretty. She even had a few boyfriends, when her cousins didn't drive them off.

All too quickly, her time at Hogwarts came to an end. Even though Rose had enjoyed her time, she was glad to be leaving. Malfoy and his bullying had been a constant thorn in her side her entire time at Hogwarts. She glad to finally be rid of him. She was even more glad that she eventually had gotten over her school girl crush on him too. After having some decent boyfriends, who actually treated her like a human being, she had realized how stupid it was that she had liked Malfoy for so long. Sure, she still thought he was gorgeous, but her feelings for him soured when she remembered how he treated her. She was glad to be leaving Hogwarts all things resolved and ready to live her own life.

Graduation had been an exciting and emotional affair. As Head Girl, and top student of the class, she had spoken. Her parents had attended and cried during her speech. After the ceremony there was a celebration and more crying, and lots of hugging and kissing. Mostly between Alice Longbottom and Albus, her best friends, who finally got together at the last possible moment of school. Rose had slipped away for a moment from the party to say goodbye to her favorite place at Hogwarts.

She made her way across the grounds to the greenhouses. Herbology had been her favorite subject at school and one she excelled in. Plus, it was taught by one of her favorite people, Uncle Neville. In fact, Rose did so well, she had been offered a prestigious apprenticeship in Brazil, studying plants in the Amazon rainforest. She would leave in a week. While she was excited for the amazing opportunity, she was sad to be leaving her childhood behind.

As she wound her way through the greenhouses, saying farewell to each beloved plant, her solitude was interrupted when a hand grabbed her arm.

"What the fu-," she began, as she spun around to confront the intruder. The words died on her tongue. It was him. Malfoy.

"I knew you'd come here eventually," he said softly.

"What do you want Malfoy? Come to make my last hours at Hogwarts miserable?" She hissed at him. Looking up into his grey eyes, her heart hammered. She hadn't realized how close they were. She tried to take a step back, but found that she was unable to as he was still gripping her arm.

"Let go of me Malfoy, I need to go find my family." Rose tried hard not to look at him, being this close to him was making her equally excited and disgusted.

"No, I need to talk to you Weasley," he said, he voice still unusually soft.

"No?! Are you kidding me!? Are you so desperate to ruin everything for me, that you're going to force me to stay here till you've insured my last hours here are miserable?" She hissed at him, trying and failing to yank her arm out of his strong Quidditch player's grip.

"Damn it, Rose, that's not what I want, I'm just- ugh- what I'm trying to tell you something important!" His voice was returning to its normal level and a manic look took over his striking features.

But Rose hadn't noticed. She was dumbstruck.

Rose.

He had called her Rose.

In their seven years at Hogwarts, he had never once called her Rose.

She looked up at him, shocked. The look on his face made her breath hitch.

She heard him whisper, "sod it" and the next thing she knew, he had released her arm and was cupping her face in both hands.

And then...

And then he kissed her. He kissed her passionately in a way that light a fire in her bones and made her knees go weak. His lips were silky smooth yet firm against her mouth, and his hands soft on her face. It was a moment stolen right out of a romance novel.

And yet...

Rose just stood there, unmoving, shocked. A small part of her, that part of her that was still eleven years old and naive, told her to kiss him back and savor this moment, but the rest of her was livid. She pushed him away, rougher than she had intended, and he stumbled into a pot.

"What-" he sputtered as her fell to the ground, but Rose cut him off.

"No!" She said, her voice cold and much calmer than she felt. "No way Malfoy! You don't get to kiss me! Not after how you treated me! For seven years I was the butt of every one of your jokes. You made my life hell! So no, you do not get to kiss me!

"But, Rose, I like-" he interrupted, but Rose didn't let him continue.

"I don't care, I don't care if you have feelings for me. One kiss doesn't not make seven years of torment better! It won't solve all your problems and instantly win me over. I deserve better! I deserve to have an actual human being care for me, not some soulless monster that likes to prey on those he deems less than him."

The look on his face nearly broke Rose's resolve, but instead of falling in to his arms like how that small part of her wanted to, she left him there. He was still sitting there, shocked, next to the upturned pot. She didn't even help him up. She just turned and left. And didn't once look back.

That was the last time she saw him for ten years.

She had left for South American a week later, the incident nearly forgotten in her excitement. Soon she was deep in the Amazon. She had spent nearly the entire following ten years exploring. She helped discover thirteen new magical plant species. Much of her work focused on three particular plants that were strongly affected by lunar cycles, in hopes that they might offer new treatments for lycanthropy and similar conditions. Plants were her passion, her true love. Every moment she spent exploring and discovering and cataloging and just being around all the exotic plants made her feel alive.

She was obsessed. In fact, nearly her first year went by without a visit to her family, but after a strongly worded letter from her mother, she made it a habit to at least visit every few months. But even when she was home, she wished she was back in her beloved forests with her like-minded colleagues. For those first few years, when she was home, she never seemed completely present.

But eventually, as is the way with most jobs, Rose began to grow tired of her work. She still love the plants, but ached to study her discoveries where she had more resources and opportunities to experiment. Over the years, Rose had worked her way up in the program, until she could go no further. The inability for growth frustrated her. Rose began to feel like she would do better back in England.

Rose took a few weeks off, to visit for the holidays. And for the first time, really began to notice those around her. Alice and Albus were expecting their first child, Hugo was engaged, Lily was a full fledged Auror, and even James had settled down and had a boring ministry job. Her parents had more wrinkles than she remembered and her dear grandparents had more white hair than gray. She realized that she had allowed life to pass by her. Not that her plants and discoveries didn't matter, but her beloved family did too, and she was missing out on them.

So Rose made a resolution on New Years to have more balance in her life. She shortly returned to South America, where she trained her replacement, gathered up her plants, and put in her notice. A few short months later, she found herself back in England, renting a small two bedroom flat. She had charmed her second bedroom into a makeshift greenhouse for her plants and spent her days looking for work and studying the properties of her plants in a less mobile environment, which she was very grateful for.

Rose made good on her resolution, and spent more time around her family. She got to know Hugo's fiancée, Rebecca, better and helped out her aging grandparents once a week, though Grandma Molly insisted they were fine. Mostly though, Rose renewed her deep friendship with Alice and Albus. Most evenings she spent with them and their sweet new baby, Violet. Rose had worried she would feel like a third wheel, but their friendship picked up right where it had left off. Of course though, this meant Alice took to trying to set Rose up with every man she saw, to Rose's chagrin.

A week prior to the reunion, Rose was offered an incredible position at St. Mungo's as an Herbologist. She would be leading up part of their Research and Development department, specifically looking for new cures for currently incurable conditions, namely lycanthropy. Rose was incredibly excited about the position; she could actually use her discoveries for good and had lots of room for growth. Her new supervisor had hinted that she was already a contender for the Lead Herbologist position when the current lead retired in a few years. The prospect was thrilling. As she walked up to Alice and Albus's flat that night, she was so giddy, she was even whistling!

"What has you so excited?" asked Alice as she let Rose in.

"You remember that job I told you about a couple of weeks ago? The one at St. Mungo's? Well...they offered me the position!" Rose exclaimed "I start next week!"

"Rose! That's fantastic!" Alice jumped up and down and wrapped Rose in a tight hug. "Ugh, I just so happy for you!"

"Did I hear right," Albus asked walking into the room carrying baby Vi, "You got a job?"

"She did! The one at St. Mungo's! She's sure to thrill at the class reunion!" Alice was still so excited, that she was dancing around the room.

"Huh?" Rose was fairly certain Alice had gone temporarily insane.

"Alice is a little obsessed with the idea of 'winning' the class reunion. You know, how everyone tries to show off how successful and happy they are since school. It's an inane social concept in my opinion, but whatever." Albus sighed, he loved his wife, and she was an intelligent woman, but never quite understood her minor obsession with social standing and gossip.

"No, I'm not confused about that, I mean every girl who has seen a chick flick gets that idea, but what class reunion is she talking about? I haven't heard anything about it!"

"What?!" Alice had been shocked into stillness by Rose's comment. "You didn't know? There's a reunion next week! It's been ten years since Hogwarts! You have to come! We're actually paying for a babysitter so we can go!"

"I can't, I don't have anything to wear! I've been in the rainforest for the last ten years, I have no idea what's even in style!"

"Then tomorrow is a mandatory shopping day! You're going to be the most beautiful, interesting woman there if it kills me!" Alice was so insistent, Rose couldn't say no.

Albus just rolled his eyes.

True to her word, Alice, with baby Vi in tow, took Rose shopping the next day. Rose got a much needed update to her wardrobe (Alice had exclaimed after seeing Rose's closet the night before that "it's a miracle you even got a job!") and tried on well over a hundred dresses before they found the perfect number for the reunion. It was a simple, knee-length black dress with a sweet heart neckline and off the shoulder sleeves. The dress was tighter than Rose was used to, but it showed off her fit, athletic frame well.

"I love how well it shows off your tan too!" Alice exclaimed.

Rose laughed looking over herself in the mirror, "Yeah, it only took ten years to get one, I might as well show it off while it lasts!"

"You know who is going to love this dress?" Alice asked.

"Hmm?" Rose had start tuning out Alice whenever she mentioned men, but her next words caught Rose's full attention.

"Scorpius Malloy, of course!"

"What?" Rose's stomach twisted. She had more or less forgotten about him over the years.

"Yeah! I just heard from Richela Patil that he's going to be there. He didn't come to the last one."

"Why would he care about my dress? We were never friends at Hogwarts. Plus, I vaguely remember him being engaged." Rose felt like vomiting. She wasn't sure if she was ready to see him again.

"Oh you wouldn't of heard! So yes, he was engaged, like seven years ago, to Penny Parkinson. Apparently, he caught her shagging Beau Zambini two nights before the wedding. I guess it really tore him up, because no one really heard from for a year. Not that I really cared because he was such a wanker in school. But still, that must have been a hard pill to swallow. Anyway, after that year, he must've really thrown himself into work or something because I swear like a few times a year he was in the papers being recognized for some other medical award. Now as for yo-"

Rose cut her off, "What do you mean, medical awards?"

"Didn't I say? He's one of the top Healers at St. Mungo's! I even saw him when Vi was born. It was completely unexpected. And he was so nice! Totally different from when we were in school! He even apologized about his behavior at Hogwarts! It was so surreal! And the strangest thing was that he asked about you!"

"What did you tell him?" Rose felt herself break out into a cold sweat. The memory of their last encounter rushed to the front of her mind. What on earth did Malfoy want? Why was he asking about her?

"Just that you'd been traipsing around the Amazon for the last ten years, discovering new plants, gallivanting with natives, and who knows what else. Oh and that at Christmas you finally decided to move back to England and settle down. Aaaaannnnnd that you're still single."

"What?! Why!? Why would you tell him that?" Rose really _was_ going to vomit now.

"Well he did seem genuinely sorry about school. And he's super sexy. I think he's gotten even better looking since school. But, honestly, he wasn't ever interested in you in school right? So I didn't think it was that big of a deal..."

Rose could feel the bile in throat now. She _had_ thought that Malloy wasn't interested in her, until that last day and that kiss in the greenhouse. She had tried to forget it over the years and honestly it made so little sense to her that it was easier to pretend it never happened.

Alice's next words would've had Rose running for the door if she wasn't in a dress she hadn't purchased yet. "Really though, I bet he's just interested because you'll probably being seeing a lot more of each other."

"Wait, what?"

"Of course, he's a leading healer, obviously you'll cross paths a few times."

The rest of the afternoon was a blur as Alice's words reverberated in her head. He wanted to know about her. She'd be working with him. What was she going to do? She'd have to actually talk to him after ten years?

* * *

The train arrived at her stop, shaking her out of her reverie. She tightened her coat around her as she made her way off the train. It was mid-May, but she hadn't adjusted yet to the coolness of England. Thankfully the slightly lessened humidity was doing wonders for her hair. It seemed like after no time at all she was walking into the Leaky Cauldron.

She kept her coat wrapped around herself as she walked around, needing that extra layer of comfort and protection. Rose scanned the room looking for familiar faces. A few looked at her interested and a few people even waved at her. She finally spotted Alice and Albus across the room and made her way over to them.

"Rose! What are you doing? Take off your coat, show off your dress!" Alice demanded.

Albus gave her a quick hug, "Forgive, Alice, she just saw Richela Patil and Devon Corner making out and won her bet with Lilly."

"I knew they'd hook up again. And I won 20 galleons! Don't forget that! But seriously, Rose, lose the coat, show off the dress, that's why we bought it!" Alice marched Rose back to the front and pulled her coat off and hung it on the coat rack. Alice dragged her to the bar by Albus and order them a round of Firewhiskeys. Rose felt self-conscious without her coat. She was suddenly wishing she was back in the Amazon. Even the many creatures that lived in the rainforest were less intimidating than a room full of people she hadn't seen since she had face full of acne.

"Rose Weasley?!" It was Lysander Scamander, the better half of his twin Lorcan and had been one of her better friends at Hogwarts. "Godric, it's been an age! How are you?"

And so the night began. She re-met dozens of old classmates, some she didn't even remember. She was introduced to spouses, shown pictures of children, and hugged old friends. And learned far too much about some people's lives. Apparently, according to Alice's sources, Desmond McClaggen slept with four employees and contracted dragon pox on his man parts and Beau Zabini was on his third divorce, while Alice Clearwater had gone off the deep end and attempted to start an unsuccessful line of robes for cats.

The night passed quickly in a blur of faces. After a few drinks, Rose was a bit more comfortable and social. She even danced a bit and got asked out on three dates. She had turned down McClaggen though, after hearing about his sordid affairs. Taking a breather, she walked over to the bar, finding Alice talking with a tall, broad shouldered blonde.

Malfoy.

If it hadn't been for the two Firewhiskeys she had consumed, she probably would have turned right back to the dance floor, but she was emboldened by the alcohol. Plus, Alice spotted her and called her over, so it would've just been rude to turn back, right?

"Rose!" Alice squealed, definitely a little drunk, "look who just got here!"

"Rose," Scorpius said, extending his hand "It's good to see you again." His voice was deeper now than it had been in school. It make Rose's stomach flutter. She cursed herself inwardly. He should _not_ still have an affect on her.

"Mal-uh, Scorpius," she said, the name felt foreign in her mouth, "it's good to see you too." She shook his hand, feeling his calloused palm in hers.

"I'm going to let you two catch up, I've got to go make sure Albus isn't trying to call the poor babysitter again." She winked as she left, less subtlety than Rose was sure she meant to. Rose and Scorpius fell into an awkward silence. After a few minutes, Rose couldn't stand it any longer.

"Sooooo...how have you been?" She asked.

"Pretty good..." he replied. "How was South America?"

"Amazing!" The topic of her adventures carried the conversation for a few minutes, but then they lapsed into uncomfortable silence again. This time he broke the quiet.

"Rose, look, I was a real arse in school. There's no ex-" Scorpius was cut off by a buzzing sound. "Shit," he said removing his now glowing wand from his pocket, "it looks like I'm getting called in. I guess we'll had to continue this again some other time. It was good to see you again" He gripped her arm, and turned to leave. "I'm really glad you're back Rose," he said, barely loud enough for her to hear, and left.

Shocked, Rose made her way through the thinning crowd to where Albus and Alice were cuddled in a corner booth. She plopped down next to Alice; she had been used to their groping each other since seventh year.

"Well you two look ready to head home," she teased, or attempted to at least.

Alice saw right through Rose. "What happened?" immediately giving Rose her full attention.

"I think Scorpius just tried to apologize," Rose said still in disbelief.

"I told you he changed!"

"I know, I just, I just don't know. It's so weird."

"Well, as much as I love talking about Malfoy as the next guy," Albus cut in, "I was actually thinking it might be time to head home Alice. It might be nice to spend some adult time together alone, if you know what I mean." He said winking.

"Oh you mean sitting on the sofa, talking about how cute our baby is, while she's in the next room? Cause that's what happened last time you said that?" Alice laughed.

"It happened ONCE, Alice! ONCE! I really mean it this time. But you've got to admit Vi is the cutest baby alive!" Albus was obviously completely taken in by his daughter.

Alice kissed Albus and laughed, "I think you'd change your mind if you were the one nursing her all the time!"

"I want you to nurse me," Albus said as seductively as he could while trying to keep a straight face. Alice shot him a disapproving glare but dissolved into a fit of giggles at the look on his face.

"Gross! You two are worse than before you had a baby," Rose laughed.

"We know!" Albus proudly exclaimed. "But in all seriousness, Alice, we should head back."

"Fine, but Rose, I need all the details tomorrow." Alice said as she and Albus stood to leave.

"There's really not much to tell!" she called after them, knowing that even so, Alice would be over hounding her all day tomorrow. The thought exhausted her. Actually the whole night exhausted her. She pulled herself out of the booth, deciding to call it a night.

* * *

The weekend passed in an Alice filled blur and Monday morning came slower than she wished. She awoke full of nervous energy and could barely eat anything. She spent a few more minutes on her hair and makeup than normal before pulling on her brown work robe, hoping her put together appearance would give a good first impression. As a result, she didn't have enough time to take the tube and apparated to work instead, getting there a little early. This gave her a few extra minutes before she needed to be in her new office, in the greenhouses on the roof of St. Mungo's.

Rose walked slowly through the building, trying to familiarize herself with each floor and it's needs. As Rose passed a room on the fourth floor, she heard a familiar deep voice and the quiet cry of young girl.

"I promise it'll go away. I've never met a transfiguration gone wrong that I couldn't fix. And if I can't, I'll turn my nose into a kettle spout too! We'll start a trend, it'll be all the fashion magazines can talk about."

Rose heard the child laugh, and peaked into the room. Scorpius was sitting next to the bed of a small girl of about eight years old who had somehow turned her face into a teakettle. The child was understandably distraught but Scorpius had put her at ease and even gotten her to laugh. It was a sweet moment. Rose hadn't even realized she was staring until, Scorpius caught her eye. He was momentarily stunned, but the child, was thankfully still giggling and didn't notice. Scorpius looked about to say something, when Rose was approached by another witch in brown robes.

"Miss Weasley! You're early!"

Rose tore her eyes away from the room to address the small woman in front of her. It was Madam Botts, the head Herbologist . "Yes, Madam Botts! I thought I would take a couple minutes to familiarize myself with the layout of the hospital."

"Oh, how wonderful, I love when an employee takes initiative!" The witch started down the hall to the nearest lift, obviously expecting Rose to follow. Rose glanced back at Scorpius, who was still looking at her and gave him a small smile, before hurrying to follow the petite witch. "Of course, I'll still be giving you a tour later, and I'll be introducing you to a few people you'll be working with. But hopefully it'll go quicker, and you can have more time to get settled. By the way, you may just call me Botty, everyone does! And I want my employees to be comfortable."

Rose followed Botty to the greenhouses, where she was shown her office and met her co-workers and employees. She was over the moon when she found out she would be given her own greenhouse, just for her rainforest plants. Her morning was full with learning names and faces, and moving into her office, so it was after lunch that she and Botty meant up for her tour.

They started down in the basement, where the potion labs were. Botty introduced Rose to the Head Potioneer, who showed her around the labs. "You'll be working closely with many of the Potioneers down here," Botty informed her as they followed the Head Potioneer. As Rose, scanned the room, she recognized a few faces from school, including her cousin Molly who ran over and gave her a quick hug before returning to her work.

After finishing up in the basement, they worked their way up the floors. On the ground floor, Rose was introduced to a handful of important healers. This included the Head Healer, Niall Llewelyn, of all of St. Mungo's and the Healer-in-Charge for the Artefacts Accidents ward. Rose was grateful she had put some extra effort into her appearance after being introduced to the rather intimidating Head Healer, who was very interested in her work. Thankfully, his twinkling eyes belied his intimidating stature and he was the kind of wizard whose smile could put you instantly at ease.

"Botty, dear, have you taken Miss Weasley up to the first floor yet? Our Healer-in-Charge for Creatures Induced Injuries would be very interested in discussing you work. I'm sure he would have some ideas you'd be interested in.

"Oh we haven't yet, Llewelyn, we were headed there next, " Botty replied. As she spoke, a blonde-haired Healer rounded the corner.

The Head Healer interrupted her, "Oh no need, it looks like Healer Malfoy is headed this way. He's one of our most promising Healers and our youngest Healer in Charge in a century. Very bright," he added and then called Scorpius, who looked about ready to turn back, to come meet Rose.

"Meet Miss Rose Weasley," said Llewelyn, once Scorpius was standing next to him, "one of our newest Herbologists. She will be leading our Research and Development division and she has some fascinating work I think you might be interested in Malfoy."

"Actually, sire," interjected Scorpius, who still hadn't met Rose's gaze yet, "Miss Weasley and I were classmates at Hogwarts"

"Splendid! Then I'm sure you'd love to catch up! We were just showing her around, you're welcome to join."

"I'd be happy to show her around myself, if it would be more convenient. I just finished my shift."

"Ahh, what a grand idea, there were some things I wanted to discuss with you Botty."

"Wonderful, we'll leave you in good hands Rose. And feel free to call it a day after you're done; you'll have a full day ahead of you tomorrow," added Botty with a friendly shake of her finger.

Rose and Scorpius stood there awkwardly together as Botty and Llewelyn made their way down the hall. It wasn't until they turned the corner that Scorpius spoke

"So..." he said, shuffling his feet, not meeting Rose's gaze. His shoulders, that had been straight and strong moments before seemed bowed down under a heavy weight.

"So..."

Scorpius took a deep breath and seemed to brace himself. He looked up and finally met Rose's gaze. Rose could read his nerves all over his face. "Look Rose, I owe you an apology. More than an apology, I owe you an explanation. I was a complete prat in school. I was cruel and a bully and a total arse. I know there's not anything I can say to you to make up for how I acted, but I need you to know that I am so very sorry Rose. Please, forgive me, I really am sorry."

Scorpius paused, lacking the courage to go on.

"Why?" asked Rose. "Why did you do it?"

The question wasn't unexpected, but Rose could tell Scorpius had hoped she wouldn't ask. A broken look took over his face and his gray eyes filled with remorse and fear.

"Could we walk to my office, Rose, it's just up a floor?" asked Scorpius, his voice sounding raw. Nodding her agreement, they began walking down the hall. Rose was surprised, when he began again, but his voice seemed more steady and strong.

"Honestly," he started, "I was insecure and jealous. Everything seemed so easy for you and you fit in with everyone. You were a golden child, blessed with parents who had been on the right side of the war. The sun always shone in Rose Weasley's world. Meanwhile, I felt like nothing ever went right for me. My mum passed away right before school started. She was the only person who really loved me. No one else seemed to want to be around me or really even care about me. I looked at you and saw everything I had been denied." Scorpius drew quiet as they stepped into a lift.

When the exited, Rose almost didn't want to ask, but couldn't help herself, "But that doesn't explain why you kissed me?"

He was quiet until they entered his office, which was decent sized. Books lined one wall behind a desk piled high with papers and various potion ingredients. A cauldron simmered in the corner behind the desk. Rose took the seat in front of the desk, expecting Scorpius to take the one across from her, but instead he dropped into the seat next to her.

Taking a deep breath, he continued, "At some point during school, I stopped feeling things, stopped caring. Looking back now, I'm fairly certain I was depressed. I was stone. Nothing phased me. Except you. Even on the worst days, you could always get me to feel something, usually anger, but occasionally more than that. I became obsessed with you Rose. I had my pick of girls at school, I was handsome and rich enough to, but I couldn't get you. And it killed me because I knew you must have liked me at one point, or else you never would've tried to talk to me on the train. I thought that if I could have you, I would finally be happy. I knew you well enough that I knew you wouldn't leave without one last trip to the greenhouses. So I kissed you. I genuinely thought that that would be all it took. With so many other girls that's all it took and I had no concept that a relationship was more than just snogging. I should've given you more credit. It was wrong, I know."

Rose glanced at him and her heart broke. The reality of who he had been was crushing him. His face was ashen and he appeared much older than what he was. She wanted to stop, to just call it good and be done, but she needed the closure and so did he.

"So what changed?"

"I wish I could say it was your rejection. It would be less devastating than the truth, but in reality, I just got worse for a time after that. I became convinced that I would be happy if I had the perfect life. Good job, pretty wife, and lots of money. And I was well on my way to it. I was engaged and we were going to have the wedding of the century. Everything was going according to my plan. Until just a few nights before the wedding. We were supposed to do an interview with Witch Weekly that night, and when I walked in with the journalists I expected to find my perfect fiancée waiting for me. Instead she was shagging my best mate."

"I was upset, but not because she was shagging Beau, but because she couldn't do it in private like a normal person. She embarrassed me and the whole wizarding world was going to know about it. It took me years to figure out how twisted it was that I didn't even care about her. I had no concept of love anymore, just my appearance. I was humiliated, so I did the logical thing...I ran away. I was offered a chance to do some charity work with the International Medi Wizard Alliance. I jumped at the opportunity, it was better than being stuck here with everyone and the pity in their eyes. I figured I would go, save a few lives, and return a hero."

"We started off in Africa and were there for a few months. I did my work, saved lives, but I wasn't there for the right reasons obviously. Once I felt like I did enough I wanted to go back, but they still needed me. Serious fighting broke out in the Middle East again and we were relocated. In areas like that, magic and non magic fighting are usually connected. In the Middle East, the people we fighting for their freedom from oppressive governments and rebellious groups. All around me I only saw devastation and horror, yet the other Healers seemed to think there was good amongst the bad. But I just couldn't see it."

As, Scorpius talked about his time abroad, it was like watching poison being drawn from a wound. Slowly his posture became straighter and his eyes clear. It was like he was becoming a new man.

"I didn't understand until one day I was treating a lycanthropy bite. I was completely horrified. Apparently, this young man's family had stood up to a local warlord. As punishment, they attempted to turn the family's daughter, but the brother stepped in and took the bite meant for her. To be a werewolf in that area was next a death sentence. There's no resources for Wolfsbane and no safe, regular place he can go to take it. And if he was seen when he transformed, he would be killed. He knew this, but he did it anyway. When I spoke to him about it, he told me he would do it again because he loved his sister more than his own life. He said she deserved a better life than that of a werewolf. For the first time since my mother's death I understood love, real love. It changed something in me. It opened the floodgates, I could feel again, care for others. I felt alive for the first time in years."

"At the end of my contracted year, I didn't want to come back. I didn't want to lose the ability to feel again. I wanted to keep helping and actually doing good for once in my life. But they wouldn't let me stay on another year because I needed to do training here. I promised myself though, before I left, that I would never be that person again, the cruel, cold hearted man I had been. When I returned, I jumped at the chance to work in Creature Induced Injuries. Even though it meant dealing with difficult, sometimes untreatable injuries, because even if a case is hard and it tears me apart inside, it means I can still feel...that I still care."

His voice was soft when he finished. Rose knew he was waiting for her to say something. But words seemed to fail her.

"I know it's a lot to take in," he said "and I want you to know that it's not something I tell a lot of people. But you needed to know, I owed you an explanation. I wanted you to know why I was the way I was and know that I had changed. I don't expect you to forgive me right away or even ever, but you deserved to understand. Honestly, I wish we could go back and start all over."

"Me too," said Rose, "but if it helps, I do forgive you. I saw this morning with that girl and again this afternoon that you really have changed. So yes, I forgive you."

It was like watching a load being lifted off his shoulders. He gave her the first genuine smile she had ever seen on his face.

"I do like your idea of starting over though," she added. "It's been ten years, we're completely different people now. Maybe we should try and let the past stay the past and be friends?"

He nodded, "I like that idea."

"In that case, there is something I think you ought to see."

* * *

A few minutes later they had aparated into Rose's flat. Rose flushed at the state of her sitting room.

"Don't mind the mess, it was my first day, I was a bit nervous."

Scorpius chuckled, "It's not that bad. My flat is probably not been cleaned since last month."

Rose smiled at him as she lead him into her quasi greenhouse. She was thankful he was in a joking mood. His confession earlier had worn them both out emotionally and she was afraid things would be awkward between them.

"Wow, this is amazing Rose. Does your landlady know you've done this?" Scorpius shot her a scandalized face but couldn't hold it very long, and it ended up as a smirk.

"No! And I'll thank you kindly not to tell her. She's a muggle and will probably die of a heart attack if she finds out!" Rose laughed again and brought him to a row of ugly, hairy brown plants, each with a single closed blossom.

"This is Lupus Florebit, or Wolf Blossom. I know it's hideous, but when it blooms, it's a the most beautiful silver flower. It take six years to grow a blossom, which it keeps for a year. The flower only opens during the night of each full moon for that year. After the year ends, the blossom dies and it's another six years before it grows back. After I discovered it, and studied it's lunar properties, I became interested in its use as an antidote for werewolf bites. So I tested various parts of the plant in various stages of life in various states on lycanthrope cells. It was incredibly difficult work because the plant has such a finicky life cycle. Anyway, I discovered that nectar extracted from the flower during the seventh lunar cycle of a blossom year can return the lycanthropic cells to a normal state."

Scorpius was dumbfounded and it took him a few moments to reply. "What? What does that mean?"

"It means, I may or may not have found a cure for lycanthropy. But don't get too excited, we're still decades away from a viable cure, especially since it takes so long to get any nectar extracted and I've only done testing on cells. There could be unintended side effects or the change could only be tempor-"

The rest of Rose's words we cut off as Scorpius pulled her into tight hug.

"It doesn't matter Rose, there is hope, which is more than there has been before." He released her and looked at her with a look that spoke volumes. "Thank you for showing me this. It's seriously amazing!"

* * *

Rose eyed her plant and gave an exasperated huff. It had been months since she had transplanted all her Lupus Florebit and other Amazonian plants to her greenhouses at . She had done everything perfectly and yet she was still struggling to get her plants to thrive. Obviously they had been moved too many times. The plants were driving her crazy. Since it took so long for them to be viable for her experiments, every plant lost was another delay in the progress towards a cure. Rose growled with frustration and threw off her work gloves. She needed a drink.

If Rose was really being honest with herself, though, she knew that it wasn't just the plants that were bugging her. _He_ was bugging her too.

It had been six months since her first day at . Since then Rose and Scorpius had slowly built a strong friendship. She enjoyed being around him. He made her laugh and took a genuine interest in her work. And watching him work was one of her favorite things. She would make up excuses to see him or come to work early, just so she could catch him with a patient. It continued to amaze her how different he was from school and how good and kind he was.

Rose stood up and grabbed her gloves, shoving them in her pocket. She made her way over to the storage cabinet where she kept her tools and grabbed the bottle of Firewhiskey she hid there and poured herself two knuckles of the amber liquid.

She leaned against the cabinet and laughed at herself. She should have figured it out when she started showing up early just to see him. Sacrificing sleep was not something the daughter of Ron Weasley took lightly. But no, she had to be dating someone else when she figured it out. A few months ago she had started dating Lysander Scamander. He was nice enough and fun to be around, but Rose never really felt like the relationship was going anywhere. When her plants started dying though, she really knew. She had been going on about it one night at dinner only to look over at Lysander and realized he was barely even listening. Hearing her pause he had said "Rose, i just don't see why it's such a big deal, they're just plants." Rose had been absolutely flabbergasted. How could he not understand how important this was to her?

Scorpius got it though. He had come to see her after his shift and found her crying in her greenhouses. He had looked absolutely stricken when she told him. He took her in his arms and allowed her to grieve over the plant and all the lost possibilities. She knew right then that she had fallen in love with him.

Rose had broken up with Scamander the next day and hoped that Scorpius would do something about her newfound singlehood. But three months later and nearly four plants dead, he still hadn't made a move. It was driving Rose crazy.

She wouldn't have been so upset about it if she had thought he didn't feel the same way, but she was so sure he did. He didn't spend time with anyone outside of work besides her. In fact, as far as she knew she might have been his closest friend. Maybe it was all in her head. But she knew she was in love with him. It was more than the school girl crush she had on him when she was eleven. His smile made her heart skip a beat and seeing him gave her butterflies-

Rose shook herself out of her thoughts. She sounded like a bad romance novel. When she had talked to Alice about, even she thought Rose's descriptions were ridiculous. Rose decided to call it a night and moved to clean up. It was late and at the rate she was going she wasn't going to get anything else done that night. And she couldn't think Scorpius into making a move on her.

But...

A crazy thought entered her mind...she could make the first move. She looked down at the bottle. _This Firewhiskey must have been strong._

But...it wasn't that crazy. Girls did it all the time. Rose had just never been that...outgoing. She was too unsure of herself. But she was fairly certain that if Scorpius hadn't made a move by now he either was too shy too or not interested. And if he wasn't interested, what would she do? Ruin a perfectly good friendship? What is she was mistaken in thinking he was interested in her? Was the gamble worth it?

Rose shook out her glass, stuck it back in her cabinet with the Firewhiskey, and made to leave. She was so consumed with her thoughts that she didn't notice Scorpius was standing in the doorway until she walked right into him.

"Umphhf," said Rose, peeling her face out of his chest. "Ow, you could've warned me!" Rose laughed and took a step back into the greenhouse, rubbing her head.

Scorpius laughed and looked down at her "I tried! You weren't listening. I'm used to it though, you're like that whenever you're working."

"I'm sorry," Rose sighed,"it's been a long day. It looks like I'm going to lose another plant. It's been one too many transplants I guess. See?" She showed him back to the sickly plant.

His face fell when he saw it. He understood the ramifications of losing another plant. "I'm sorry Rose." He wrapped Rose in a small hug. He smelled like musk and antiseptic, which might have been a strange combination on anyone else, but Rose loved it. "What can I do to help?"

Rose stepped back again and looked into his eyes. He was always so thoughtful. She smiled up at him, "Convince Botty to hire me another assistant?" She laughed.

"I could try if you really want."

"No, it's okay. I don't think it would help too much. But enough about my problems, how was your shift?"

Scorpius' face filled with emotion. It took him a minute to answer and Rose could already tell it had been a rough day. She couldn't believe that he had been so thoughtful and comforted her with her issues when he had obviously had a bad day.

"We had a werewolf bite today. She's just a girl, six years old. Her family went camping for the holidays and the parents let her wander alone at night and she got attacked. It's horrifying Rose. She's not even old enough to understand fully what's happening to her and all the ramifications. Even with Wolfsbane she's going to have a life of pain ahead of her. She's only six Rose." Scorpius had anguish all over his face. It was Rose's turn to wrap her arms around him.

Scorpius sank into her embrace. "It could've been prevented. If her parents had not been so negligent. She would've been fine. I love my job Rose, but sometimes it's too hard."

Rose looked up and met his gaze. She wasn't sure what made her do it, but she slipped her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, "I wish my work had better news for you, but you have to have faith in me and trust that the cure will come."

"I do, Rose, I do. You give me so much hope." His voice was soft now too, their faces centimeters apart.

Rose want sure what made her do it, but she closed the distance and brushed her lips across his. It lasted less than a second but it set her heart racing. She pulled back and looked at him, trying to gage his reaction, but his expression was unreadable.

"Rose!" A voice called, "Are you still here?" It was Botty. Rose swore. She had been so sure she was the last one here. She stepped away from Scorpius, avoiding his gaze. She tried to calm herself and school her face into a calm, pleasant expression, but she was sure her blush was going to give away what had just happened.

"I'm back here Botty!" she called.

Botty appeared a moment later. "Hello Healer Malfoy! Come to see the progress?" She asked politely. Botty was used to seeing him around. "Rose, I've got some paperwork I need to go over with you. It's for the next stage of testing." She addressed Scorpius again. "It may take us awhile, perhaps you'd better come back tomorrow."

"Alright, I guess I will see you later Rose." Rose gave him an apologetic look as he turned to leave. Whatever was going on with them would have to wait until later.

When Rose got home, she hoped against hope Scorpius would be waiting for there or something. Instead she found a note that had been slid under her door

 _Rose,_

 _I didn't get a chance to tell you, but I'm going to be gone for the next two weeks. I got asked to speak at a Medi Wizard conference in America. Can I see you when I get back?_

 _Yours,_  
 _Scorpius_

Rose inwardly kicked herself. _Only you would be stupid enough to kiss a guy right before he left the country._ She reread his note. He didn't mention anything about her kiss, but he did ask to see her, so that had to be good right?

"Ugh," she exclaimed and threw herself on her sofa. It was never a good idea to leave a relationship on uncertain terms for too long, according to Alice. Rose sighed, it was going to be a long two weeks.

* * *

The following Saturday, Rose found herself working in her greenhouse. She had awoken early and full of nervous energy, needing to do something with her hands. After cleaning her entire apartment and spending some time caring for her own plants, she found it was barely midday. Rose decided she might as well put this extra energy in trying to convince her sickly plant to live.

Classical music played on the wireless, which she had turned all the way up, hoping to drown out her thoughts. She was very diligently try not to think about why she was so nervous, but thoughts of Scorpius kept popping up. _Ten days_ , she thought, _just ten more days_.

Partially due to the loud music, but mostly because of her absorption in her work and thoughts, Rose missed the telltale crack that signaled someone's arrival. She also missed the sound of their footsteps as they made their way over to Rose. And the sound of someone calling her name. In fact, Rose only became aware of the presence of company when a strong hand slipped around her waist and pulled her away from her work.

Throughly shocked and convinced she was under attack, Rose whirled around and without thinking struck the intruder across the face with her small spade. As he crumpled to the floor, Rose recognized the voice that called out.

"Ahhh!" Scorpius groaned from the floor. "Bloody hell, Rose, what was that for?"

Rose threw down her spade and dropped to the floor next to Scorpius, who was unsuccessfully trying to stem the flow of blood from his nose. "Oh Merlin's beard, Scorpius I am sorry! I didn't know it was you!"

"Obviously," he said, sitting up and putting his head between his knees. Rose knelt in front of him a placed her hands on either side of his face and lifted it so she could see. Blood was flowing freely from his obviously broken nose, which was swollen and turning bluer by the second.

"Godric, Scorpius, I really am so sorry! Do you want me to fix it?" She met his eyes and flushed at the intense look on his face. She flushed when she realized that their faces were very close together. She released his face and scooted back.

"It's alright Rose. And I can fix it, I am a Healer you know. But I'll need you to find me something I can clean up with, cleaning spells only get you so far."

Rose nodded and got to her feet, relieved to have an excuse not to be right next to him for a moment. Hopefully by the time she got back to him her blush will have subsided. She walked over to her supply closet and grabbed a fresh rag and a small bowl By the time she made her way back to Scorpius, he had fixed his nose and stopped the bleeding, but his face was still covered in blood. Rose filled the bowl with water with her wand and then knelt besides Scorpius, who was now laying on his elbows in a half reclined position. She took his chin in her other hand and began wiping the blood off his neck and face.

Purposely avoiding his gaze, she asked him, "What are you doing here? You've only been gone a few days."

"I had a break today and I found I couldn't stand to be there any longer. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you...and that kiss," Scorpius answered after a minute, his voice low and husky. Rose finished cleaning his face and sat the cloth down. When she looked back at him, he was gazing at her intently. She suddenly felt very warm and her breath sounded loud in her own ears. Scorpius sat up and slipped an arm around her waist. He was so close now she could count every one of his eyelashes. She felt his warm breath on her cheek.

"Rose, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you. Not being near you was driving me insane," he whispered as he leaned in closing the gap between their mouths. Rose's heart was hammering in her chest and her mind was racing. "I'd very much like to kiss you again, if that's alright." Rose was so overwhelmed, she could only nod in reply. When his lips brushed against, she let out a soft gasp, which seemed to encourage him. His eyes closed as brought his other hand up to tangle it in her hair and pressed his warm mouth fully against hers. For a moment, Rose's mind continued to race, but then she closed her eyes and was lost in his kiss.

After a moment they broke apart. Scorpius pressed his forehead to hers and smiled.  
"You know, Rose Weasley, we seem to have a penchant for kissing in greenhouses."

Rose laughed, "Yes, it seems we do." And then she leaned in and kissed him again.


	2. Chapter 2

Scorpius was exhausted.

Actually exhausted didn't even begin to cover what he was. He was functioning off of shear force of will alone.

A recent new strain of spattergroit was making its way through the wizarding population and it was highly contagious and unprecedented in its potency. The Minster declared a full on epidemic two weeks prior and St. Mungo's had been working nonstop since then treating patients and working on an inoculation. Even Scorpius, who typically worked in Creature Induced Injuries, was taken off his normal rotation and was thrown into the fray. It had been hell.

He groaned as he heaved himself up the stairs. What had he been thinking living on the top floor of his building? Though it hadn't been a problem really until a few months ago, but once Rose had moved in he had tried to be more considerate about apperateing all hours of the night. Especially since he could never predict what she would be up to when he arrived. And he had learned his lesson about startling her.

Rose. His heart clenched at the thought of her. He had barely seen her the past few weeks, even though they lived together now. In fact, now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure when was the last time he had been home. Monday. It had been Monday. He remembered because he had brought an inoculation potion home for Rose, who (as a non-essential staff) had been barred from St Mungo's at the beginning of the crisis. He had known she would be anxious about leaving her greenhouse that long, especially now that all her plants had stabilized. He'd brought her the potion so she could at least be allowed to go to her greenhouse. So Monday. That was the last time he had been home. And it was late Saturday now. Which means not only had he missed their date night for the third week in a row, but he hadn't had a decent shower since then either. He was definitely in no state to see Rose. Not that she really would mind. He was just disgusting. There was no way he was going to make her endure kissing him until he had a shower.

Arriving at his door at last, Scorpius fumbled for his key. Everything around him seemed to be moving too fast for him to keep up and he struggled to get his key into the lock. After a fruitless minute, he sighed and stuffed the key back into his pocket. He went for his wand instead, but halfway to reaching for it he lost energy and slumped against the door. Scorpius had been living off of energy potions and cleaning spells for the last few days. And his body was finally feeling it. He sighed. If it hadn't been for Llewelyn noticing he hadn't changed his robes in a few days, he's probably still be at the hospital. But he had and sent Scorpius home with strict instructions not to return for at least 48 hours. Thankfully though, the influx of patients had begun to wain and Scorpius didn't feel too guilty about going home.

Though he was going to feel guilty if he kept Rose waiting on him much longer. She had been understanding, but he knew these last few weeks had been taxing. Once he was clean and had slept he was going to make it up to her. Of course to do that, he would first need to get inside the apartment. So wearily, begrudgingly, he checked the hall for any of his neighbors and then slipped his wand out of his coat pocket, muttered " _Alohamora_ " under his breath and slipped into his apartment as quietly as he could, not knowing if Rose was up or not.

A quick glance revealed her small, sleeping frame on the couch. With mussed, red curls, a streak of dirt on her chin, and an open book laying across her chest, she was wholly and completely Rose. And she was breathtaking. The sight of her made Scorpius feel more awake than he had in days and brightened his mood. He wanted to hold her sweet face in his hands and wipe away that smudge of dirt and kiss her freckles, but in the state he was in he'd probably just get her more dirty. So instead he made do with drinking her in from afar before he made his way to the shower.

How had he gotten so lucky to have this amazing woman in his life? Scorpius was still overwhelmed at the complete change his life had taken these last few years. Especially now that he had Rose in his life again. He'd been in a reflective mood lately for a lot of reasons, but the main reason was a little black box that had been sitting in his pocket for nearly a month now. He'd bought it right before the epidemic and had to keep postponing the date for work. He was going to have to replan the proposal all over again, but Scorpius didn't mind. Rose was worth it.

Scorpius pulled the box out and examined the ring. It was just a simple band, nothing fancy. "You had better be right, my friend." Scorpius whispered to himself as he marveled at the ring His thoughts went back to a young boy who completely changed his life.

* * *

Samir had been different from the moment Scorpius had met him. Usually he had tried to avoid working with his patients as much as he possibly could. But Samir had been different. Scorpius found himself drawn to the sixteen year old. He'd come in with a terrible werewolf bite and severe blood loss. The protocol for treating werewolf bites in the middle of the warzone was to heal the wound, replenish the blood, and release them. There were no resources for Wolfsbane where they were and werewolves were a danger to the secrecy of the wizarding community, so they were actively hunted by many of the factions. There was nothing they as the healers could do about it. Most of them tried to draw out the time it took to heal the wound to give the victims time to say goodbye to their loved ones, but even then it only bought them a little time. A werewolf bite was a death sentence.

But in spite of knowing this, Samir was just so optimistic and happy. It was infectious. Scorpius found himself spending as much of his time with the child as possible. Samir was with them for only a week, but in that time, Scorpius felt as if they had become almost friends. The boy would tease him about his grouchiness and Scorpius would show him gruesome things from some of his medical books just to make the boy laugh. He found himself opening up to someone for the first time in his life.

The last night Samir was with them though, things were different. Samir was more quiet, pensive. He knew was getting released the next day and that his time was drawing short.

"Why are you so sad, Healer Malfoy?" he'd asked out of the blue.

Scorpius hadn't intended on sharing any information about his life with anyone out here. It would defeat the purpose of running away. But the week with Samir had softened his heart a little and that night he found himself spilling his whole life story to him, up until the embarrassing moment with Penny and Beau.

"...and then we walked in on them. Like _together_ , together. I couldn't believe it. I had given her everything she could have ever asked for. Clothes, money, the world's biggest engagement ring, and she just threw it all back in my face."

"Well there's your problem there, Healer Malfoy," Samir spoke in a kind voice, "You chose the wrong girl and gave her the wrong things. The right girl won't care what the ring looks like. She'll just want you and your love."

Scorpius was stung by this. He rolled his eyes at this and scoffed. "Oh well, excuse me, but I think I'll pass on taking life advice from teenagers who are stupid enough to get themselves bit by a werewolf."

For the first time since he'd met him, anger flashed across Samir's face. "Is that what you think happened?" the boy shouted. "You think that you are so much better and smarter than me, but you are not! You know nothing. You are vain and selfish and...a coward!" Samir threw the blankets from the bed he was laying in and fled before Scorpius could even think to catch him.

When Scorpius did finally find him, Samir was standing outside, staring up at the crescent moon in the sky. Samir was breathing hard but an eerie calm had overtaken his visage. He didn't turn when Scorpius came to stand beside him. "My father made some very important people mad," Samir spoke in a soft voice. "They had a werewolf they'd kept alive to use as punishment. It was supposed to bite my sister. It was in her room, but she...she's just a little girl. Ten years old. I couldn't let it take her. I couldn't let this be her fate. She's the kind of child that has no fear, who makes every strange her friend and every stray her pet. Talia doesn't love with her whole heart, she loves with her entire soul. She's...she's all that is good in this life. I love her more than my own life. I could bear to have that much good ripped from this world. So...I jumped in front of it... I let it bite me instead."

There were no words. Scorpius walked away, ashamed for himself and unable to make things right. He couldn't stand himself. He had to get away. From himself, from this place, and from this boy...no, _man,_ who had lived and loved more in his short life than Scorpius could ever hope to.

Scorpius did not sleep that night. He wandered as far from the camp as he could, hoping against hope that he could run away from all that he could no longer hide from. But when the first rays of morning peaked over the horizon, and Scorpius's problems still weighed heavily on him, he faced the truth he tried to run from for so long... He was a creature of his own making. He had no one to blame for the empty hollowness of his life but himself. He had wronged so many people in so many ways and now he had to taste the bitter fruits of the seeds he had sown.

Squaring himself to the task, Scorpius made his way back to the camp. He may be a monster of his own creation, but this was not the end of his story. There had to be some way to right his wrongs, wasn't there? Some way to atone? Scorpius was unsure if he could even begin to deserve a second chance after he had squandered his life, but he could try. And he could start with his young friend; find some way to save such a pure soul from his terrible fate. For Merlin's sake, he was the heir of the Malfoy family fortune. That money had to be good for something. He would find a way to save Samir.

Scorpius raced as fast as his legs could bear him. New purpose thrummed in his veins. He _would_ save Samir. But when he finally arrived at the tent that had housed Samir, he found it empty, with fresh bedding. A weight settled in Scorpius's stomach. He could not be too late, he couldn't be...but there on the fresh linens was a note...

 _My friend,_

 _I am sorry for the words I spoke in anger. You are not a coward. You are just lost. Know that I accept my fate and walk to my destiny with my head high, proud that I can save those I love most. I hope that one day you find yourself and happiness._

 _Samir_

Something broke in Scorpius at the sight of those words. He could not be too late. He just couldn't be. In his pride, he refused to accept that he could not change this. Every morning until the next full moon, Scorpius woke before the sun and spent hours searching for Samir. Every night after his shift he searched until he dropped. He was a man possessed with a frenzied determination. He barely slept and almost never ate. The waxing moon haunted him every night. The night after the full moon, Scorpius finally found Samir. He had been hiding in a small cave, nearly undetected but hunters had found him before Scorpius could. He brought the boy's remains back to his family to be properly buried. Leaving that small bundle that had once been Samir behind with his so very obviously despondent family shattered Scorpius. For the first time in many, many, years, he wept.

Scorpius threw himself into his work after that. Slowly over time, Scorpius's fractured soul began to heal. And he began to see all the goodness and light around him, like he had before his mum died. Maybe he needed to be completely broken so that he could be remade into something, someone better. He found light again, but also heartache. He could laugh and cry again. He saw selfless love all around him. It was a marvel to be able to _feel_. Scorpius found true joy from his work for the first time. And never again did he let a werewolf bite victim walk away without helping them somehow. He finally put his fortune to good use. Many he was able to get asylum in other countries. Others accepted death bravely, but Scorpius was able to give their loved ones peace and safety. And Talia and her family, he was able to get them refuge in France, though they were loathe to leave Samir.

But all to soon, his time was over with the International Medi Wizard Alliance. He had to return home. He tried his hardest to stay, but as a relatively young healer he had no choice but to return for further training and education. Upon returning to Britain, Scorpius had been required to see a counselor to clear him for work, but Scorpius kept going back after the first visit. He slowly worked to unravel the years of depression and found each new day a little better than the last.

Part of his growth though, was admitting his wrongs and atoning for them. This was the hardest for him. Many people laughed in his face, or threw back his apologies with bitter words and resentment. Penny tried to get back together with him. But a surprising number of people gave him second chances. He never took those precious second chances for granted. Soon he wasn't alone anymore. He had friends and coworkers that he enjoyed the company of. He lived for his work, helping others. For years he was content with his life. He wasn't very close with anyone, but he lonely anymore.

Until the class reunion.

* * *

Scorpius smiled and put the ring down on the counter as he dragged himself into the bathroom. The reunion had changed everything. He would've been content to live his life apart from everyone else, forever giving penance for his past if it hadn't been for that reunion and Rose. She'd brought true happiness into his life. She showed him that he didn't have to keep atoning, that he deserved to enjoy life and live it to its fullest. And he was finally going to ask her to marry him. Of course she definitely was not going to agree to marry him if smelled like sweat and hospital. Scorpius struggled out of his clothes and finally climbed into the shower, his thoughts full of the woman who had changed his life so completely and the night that they had met again.

* * *

Reunions were things Scorpius tended to avoid. Too many people from the past who didn't care to see him anymore. He hadn't intended on going at all, but after seeing Alice Potter for the first time in years and her bringing up Rose's return, he knew he had to go.

Rose.

If there was anyone he had wronged as a youth, it was her. He hadn't been just rude to her, he had been downright cruel. And then he had had the audacity to try and kiss her without her consent the last time he had seen her. It made him sick to think of it now. His actions were so dispicable to himself now that he wanted to hide for the rest of eternity. But she deserved an apology, so he was going to make sure she got one.

Which is how he found himself outside the Leaky Cauldron, trying to talk himself into going inside. He arrived late on purpose in the hope that no one else would see him. All he had to do was go in, find her, and apologize. In and out. That's all it had to be. He didn't have to talk to anyone else and he could go. Simple.

In all went to pot the second he walked in the door. She was there, in the middle of the dance floor, slow music was playing, and a spotlight seemed to be shining on just her. It was like something out of a movie. And Godric, was she beautiful. She had always been beautiful. Even when he had cruelly teased her the first time they had met she had been beautiful, but now, she was so much more. Gone was all the gangliness and uncertainty of the teenager she had been, replaced with a woman that radiated confidence and poise. Her tall, lithe frame was accentuated perfectly by a stunning black dress that hugged her in all the right places. Her hair was still the brilliant copper red it had always been, but now it hung past her waist in iridescent waves. More of her skin was showing than Scorpius had ever seen before, and it seemed to glow under the lights. A lump formed in Scorpius's throat and he swallowed thickly. He could just picture himself kissing the soft, supple skin of her shou…

Scorpius shook himself. Where had that thought come from? _Get it together_ , he thought to himself. _You're here to apologize, not maul her_. She deserves more that this. Scorpius steeled himself, and took a step forward. But then he heard it...her laugh.

Rose's laugh had always been his favorite. Even in the depths of his self-loathing and self-pity in school, he had always loved her laugh and it never failed to brighten his days. She was the kind of person who could never hide her emotions; she expressed them with her entire self. Her laugh was no exception. It was a completely unfeminine, deep belly laugh. And it was infectious. Scorpius had always wished he could laugh so recklessly unrestrained like that. Seeing her now, in the arms of some past classmate he vaguely remembered, laughing that laugh with her head thrown back…

Scorpius couldn't do it. He couldn't talk to her, let alone apologize. He had to leave. Now. Flee to the furthest corner of the world and hide from what he had done to her. And the simple fact that she would never, ever laugh that laugh for him.

Before he could even turn to leave though, Alice Potter pounced.

"Scorpius!" she gushed, "I so glad you made it! I was wondering if you were even going to come, it's so late! But come, come! Let's get you a drink!"

Scorpius had no choice but to let her drag him over to the bar where he ordered a firewhiskey, neat. He'd need all the liquid courage he could bear tonight.

"You remember Albus, my husband!" said Alice.

"Uh, yeah.." said Scorpius. Unsure of what to do, Scorpius stuck out his hand rather uncertainty. Albus coldly eyed Scorpius and only shook his hand after Alice less than subtly nudged him. An awkward silence fell.

"You have the sweetest baby," said Scorpius unable to bear the tense silence "I had the privilege of giving her some inoculations when I was covering for another Healer. I don't think I've seen a cuter baby."

Scorpius had obviously said something right, because Albus's face changed completely. "You know," Albus said rather slyly, "people say that she takes after her father."

This comment garnered an eye roll from Alice who shot back, "By some people, he means himself. Obviously." They all laughed at this. For a few minutes conversation flowed easily between the trio. Scorpius said a silent thank you to whatever fates had put Alice Potter in his path that day. She was a good person to have in your corner.

Of course Scorpius immediately regretted that thought a second later when she was dragging Rose over. Alice hastily made introductions that somehow he didn't mangle and then abandoned him. Up close, Rose was even more stunning. Her face had lost all traces of childhood and before him was truly a woman. Her honey brown eyes sparkled in the lights of the bar and he could see her deep intelligence in them. Fully intimidated, Scorpius's mouth went dry and he felt his hands shake. What had he been thinking? Unable to say the things that weighed so heavily on his heart, uncomfortable silence overtook them.

 _Tell her, tell her, come on Scorp…_

"So how have you been?" Rose asked after the silence became unbearable.

"Uh...pretty good...how was South America?" Scorpius asked, inwardly cursing himself. _You coward._

They chatted for a few minutes about Rose's adventures. Before, when he had seen her on the dance floor, she was stunning, but now, she was radiant. She came alive describing every detail of the flora of the Amazon and Scorpius could see how truly she loved every moment abroad. After a bit, Rose seem the realize where she was and who she was talking to and tapered off. Knowing it was now or never, Scorpius took a deep breath.

"Rose, look, I was a real arse in school. There's no ex-" he was cut off by his wand buzzing. Befuddled, Scorpius withdrew his now glowing wand from his pocket. He was getting called in?! He wasn't even on duty tonight! The odds of this happening was so beyond unlikely that Scorpius took it as a sign that he wouldn't ever be able to make amends with Rose.

"Shit," he sighed. "It looks like I'm getting called in. I guess we'll had to continue this again some other time. It was good to see you again," Scorpius gripped her arm, hoping to convey something of what he had been trying to say, and then turned to leave. "I'm really glad you're back Rose," he said, in a whisper. And then he walked away, accepting that the fates just weren't going to allow him to move on.

* * *

Scorpius was roused from his thoughts by a stream of freezing water. He'd been so lost in thought and so exhausted that he hadn't realized he was still in the shower. Quickly, he shut off the water and hopped out of the shower. As he was toweling off he considered all that had happened since that fateful reunion.

He had left that night feeling utterly defeated and sure he would never cross paths with Rose again. What he hadn't expected was to see her the next workday. Her willing acceptance of his apology was even more unexpected and her desire to become friends completely dumbfounded him. Before Rose, he had friends, but he always kept them at a distance, believing himself unworthy of close friends. But Rose changed that. Something about her had always gotten under his skin and once they were friends, he was completely incapable of keeping away from her.

It took a month before he realized he was done for. He had fallen for her completely. Just talking to her brightened his day. He spent as much time with her as he possibly could. He loved watching her with her plants and seeing how much joy they brought her. Scorpius knew though, that friends were all they could be. She could never love him, not after who he had been. And Scorpius was content with that. Even when she dated that dolt, Scamander, he was happy just to be in her life.

And then she kissed him. That kiss was like a door opening. It unlocked that part of him that he had hidden deep within himself as a penance, that part of him that loved and desired. He allowed him to believe himself worthy of love for the very first time. It also made him very, very stupid. Stupid enough to walk out on an incredibly important conference, stupid enough to sneak up on Rose in her greenhouse, and stupid enough to get his nose broken in the process. That second kiss though, made it all worth it though.

From that day forward, their relationship could be defined in a series of moments in greenhouses. Their first date had been to the Temperate House at the Royal Botanic Gardens, their first argument had been in her greenhouse at work, their first time had been in her greenhouse at her old apartment…

Scorpius flushed thinking about that night. It had been completely unplanned, and in hindsight, not the most romantic setting but the bedroom had seemed too far away. Throughout their relationship, Scorpius had made it his mission to take Rose to as many gardens and greenhouses around the world that he could manage. Being a wizard made it much easier to whisk her away to whatever country he wanted. He loved being able to surprise her with some new garden she had never heard of. He had been planning on taking her to an incredible greenhouse in Singapore to propose, and he still was going to right after he found some clothes and took a nap.

Scorpius shuffled wearily to his room and pulled on the first pair of sweats he could find. He made his way back to the living room, meaning to carry Rose to bed with him, only to find her missing from the couch. Frowning, Scorpius looked around. He had tried so hard not to wake her too. Not finding her in the apartment, Scorpius climb out the window that led to the outside patio.

Scorpius had no shame admitting his patio, not him, was the reason Rose had agreed to move in with him. There was no debate when they were deciding whose apartment to move into. The next day Rose sent all her things over and proceeded to ignore all her boxes of clothes and books for weeks as she worked to tirelessly make his previously unused patio into the greenhouse of her dreams.

It was completely unrecognizable now. Rose had enclosed the space and filled it with the wildest assortment of plants, magic and non-magic alike. There were Snarfalumps, peonies, lilies, snapdragons, Fanged Geraniums, and a dozen other things Scorpius couldn't name. There were daisies right next to a Venomus Tentactula, Flitterblooms were scattered among the vegetables, and every herb know to man took up the entire west wall. The greenhouse was literally overflowing with plants. Everywhere you looked there was another plant. In the back there was even a large sprig of Devil's Snare that had nearly strangled Scorpius when he got too close to it one day, but only crooned in the presence of Rose. But mostly, there were roses. Climbing up trellises, peeking out from the under the Rhododendron, and nestled among Rose's plants from the Amazon. Scorpius had thought that Rose would have an aversion to them since they were her namesake, but she adored them. She never ceased to surprise him.

During the daylight, the garden was breathtaking, but bathed in the moonlight, it was truly a wonder. Scorpius took it all in as he leaned against the entryway, searching for Rose with his gaze. He learned the hard way not to approach her in a greenhouse, even if she could see him. She just got far to absorbed in her plants to notice what was going on around her. Not that he could walk to her if he had tried tonight. Once he stopped, Scorpius found he could no longer find the energy to move.

He finally spotted her in the back near the Devil's Snare, bent over some roses. She was a sight to behold. There wasn't a trace of make-up on her face, her hair was wild from sleep, and she still had dirt on her cheek, but she was utterly magnificent. The queen of her domain. This was _his_ Rose. And Scorpius never took it for granted that she let him see this part of her. Natural. Real. This was the Rose who allowed him to finally forgive himself, who helped him to believe himself worthy of love.

"What's that look for?" Rose's voice called from across the greenhouse.

"Huh?" Scorpius asked wearily.

"You're giving me that look again. Like I did something right." Rose had stood and was tugging gloves off her hands. She smiled as she made her way over to him.

"It's nothing," Scorpius smiled back at her. "I'm just glad to see you again."

Rose stowed her gloves and then wrapped her arms around Scorpius. She pressed her lips to his and and they shared a bone melting kiss. They broke off after a moment and Rose nestled herself closer to Scorpius.

"I missed you." she said softly, tucking her head under his chin. It was her favorite place to be.

"I missed you too. I'm sorry about how crazy things have been." Scorpius said as he held her tighter to him. " And missing our date. Again...I'd really been looking forward to it." That was an understatement. He'd hoped they'd be engaged by now.

"Scor, you know it wasn't your fault. You don't need to apologize. There hasn't been a strain like this in a century. You can't control that. And I know you, I know you wouldn't work like that if you didn't have any other choice."

Scorpius sighed, still having a hard time letting go of his guilt. "Yeah...well I could've tried coming home more...anyway, it doesn't matter now. Llywelyn sent me home and instructed me not to come back for at least 48 hours, so you hav-"

"One week" Rose interrupted.

"What?!" asked Scorpius.

"One week," Rose replied, "Llywelyn found out how long you haven't been home and sent an owl. I've been given strict instructions not to allow you anywhere near St. Mungo's for the next week. Week and a half if i can manage it. And he gave me the next week off too!"

"Wha...but what about your plants?" Scorpius's brain was having a hard time following what was going on.

"That's why I have interns Scor. It'll be fine."

"Really?"

"Really. Now please stop worrying about it. I want to enjoy these few days with you. I'm going to go wash up. I expect you to be in bed when I get done. I have plans for you, so you'd better rest now," Rose said with a laugh and a wink. She kissed him on the cheek and then slipped inside.

He'd meant to follow her, he really had. But once her warmth left him, the exhaustion returned. Scorpius couldn't move a muscle. Either Rose was going to have to levitate him to bed or he was going to sleep right here because there was no way he was moving.

"Scor?" Rose's voice called to him through a haze.

"I'mmmm coming Roseee," he said, slurring his words in his exhaustion. He blinked but his eyes refused to open.

Rose was shaking him awake the next minute. "Scor?" He opened his eyes. "What's this?" Rose showed him a little black box.

Scorpius blinked. And blinked again. It took him almost a full minute to process what was going on. Then a jolt of adrenaline course through his body as he realized what she was holding...in his exhaustion, he'd just left the ring sitting there on the bathroom counter.

"Shhit!" He jumped up, fully awake now. "I didn't realize...it's not a big deal...Rose, I, uhh…" unable to explain the situation away, he told her the truth. "I was going to propose. Right before...everything happened. I didn't know what to do and I, uhh, didn't want to let the ring out of my sight in case you found it and guess you did. I'm so so sorry Rose. This isn't how I planned this at all. I was going to take you to this really beautiful garden and I had this speech...and I'm sorry." he finished lamely. He bowed his head in shame. While the logical part of him knew Rose really wouldn't mind about any of that, part of him still felt ashamed that he couldn't give her the proposal she deserved.

He was therefore, completely unprepared for her to throw her arms around him and squeal "YES!"

"What?!"

"Yes, I'll marry you, you wanker! What did you think I'd say?"

Scorpius pulled out of Rose's embrace to look her full in the face. "But I haven't even asked you!"

"So?"

"And I didn't give my speech or get down on one knee!"

"Again, so? I can imagine all of that!"

"You didn't even look at the ring!"

Rose shook her head and laughed. Her beautiful, ridiculous belly laugh. "Scor, you know me. None of that even matters. I have you and you have me and that's all that matters. You could've proposed without a ring and I would've said yes."

"Really?"

"Really Scor. Though I do hope you didn't spend too much money on this. You know I work with dirt all day, right?"

Scorpius laughed. "Open it," he said.

Rose opened the box, looked up at the ring, and then smiled up at him, her eyes glistening. "It's perfect," she said, her voice thick with emotion. She slipped her arms back around his neck and they were lost for a few minutes in a kiss.

Later, when they were snuggled in bed, Rose's head on his chest and her new ring glinting on her finger, Scorpius realized Samir had been right. He had found the right girl, and nothing else mattered except being with her.


End file.
